Two heavily armed terrorists were heading toward an Israeli highway at rush hour. Their intended targets, according to The Israel Guys host Ben Hilton, were people trapped in their cars.
Then they encountered something they had not planned for: an IDF checkpoint.
In a video breaking down the deadly attack near Hebron, Hilton describes how a temporary military position interrupted a terrorist plot targeting Route 35. Two Israeli soldiers died in the ensuing battle. But the attackers never reached the crowded highway.
“What happened next was tragic and also an incredible miracle,” Hilton said.
An unexpected roadblock
According to Hilton, the two terrorists carried a machine gun, a pistol and a large supply of ammunition as they approached Yehuda Junction near Hebron in Judea.
Their goal was to reach Route 35, “then kill as many Israelis as possible as they sat in their cars waiting for traffic to move.”
Between the attackers and those motorists stood Israeli soldiers.
“As they approached the junction, they saw that the IDF had just happened to have set up a temporary checkpoint at the junction,” Hilton said.
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The reason for the checkpoint was unknown. Hilton said it apparently had no connection to advance knowledge of the approaching terrorists.
The encounter changed the course of the attack.
“But, seeing the Israeli soldiers at the checkpoint, the Arabs panicked,” Hilton said. “They exited their car and began attacking with the machine gun and the pistol.”
Soldiers were hit. Reinforcements were called.
Nearby troops from the 101st Battalion arrived with a deputy battalion commander and engaged the gunmen, according to Hilton.
“Thankfully, the IDF backup was able to eliminate both terrorists.”
A miracle amid devastating loss
The battle carried a terrible cost.
“Tragically, two IDF soldiers ended up succumbing to their wounds after the attack,” Hilton said.
Other wounded personnel required emergency treatment and evacuation. Hilton quoted a Magen David Adom emergency responder describing one man in his 20s who was unconscious with gunshot wounds and in extremely serious condition.
The soldiers’ deaths left families grieving. Hilton urged prayer for them while emphasizing the danger the checkpoint had interrupted.
“As horrific as this was for the soldiers killed, for their families, for the soldiers that were injured, if the checkpoint had not been set up at all, all of this would have been much, much worse.”
Beyond the junction lay the intended targets: motorists caught in rush-hour traffic, with little room to escape an armed assault.
Hilton described the potential victims as “families, children, babies” who could have been “stuck in traffic with no place to go.”
“So, thank God for a miracle here.”
The hunt for further threats
According to Hilton, Israeli forces followed the attack with extensive searches in Hebron for weapons, explosives and information. Authorities also discovered a roughly 50-foot-deep underground shaft near one attacker’s home.
Hilton reported approximately 12 arrests during the broader security operations. He also said the Shin Bet disrupted another planned highway attack.
The checkpoint had stopped the gunmen’s advance. The search for further threats continued.
Israel’s grieving families need our prayers, as do the soldiers standing between civilians and those determined to kill them. In Hilton’s account, an unexpected checkpoint became the place where a planned highway massacre was stopped.
James Lasher, a seasoned writer and editor at Charisma Media, combines faith and storytelling with a journalism background from Otterbein University and ministry experience in Guatemala and at the LA Dream Center. A Marine Corps and Air Force veteran, he is the author of The Revelation of Jesus: A Common Man’s Commentary and a contributor to Charisma magazine. For interviews and media inquiries, please contact [email protected].
